Meme day 18: Hawaii

gattagrigia gave me a one-word prompt: Hawaii.

I first went to Hawaii when I was in my early 20s, part of a broken-heart running away from everything holiday with my closest female friend at the time. My parents were kind enough to pay my friend's way. We were only in Honolulu, but it was enough, and I never forgot how much better I felt while I was there. It was really hot, much hotter than average for that time of year, and outside of a few rainy hours, it was just really fucking hot, but I didn't mind at all. Normally I cannot stand that kind of heat, but I reveled in it -- there's something about the trade winds that makes even high heat tolerable, and it was just so beautiful and fragrant and mellow that I was happy all the time. Swimming in bathtub-warm water, my first experience snorkeling, being able to sit outside and eat all the time, well, I was totally hooked.

Unfortunately my next tropical experiences weren't as positive, like the Bahamas, which, while beautiful and warm lacked the mellowness and friendliness of Hawaii. And I got obsessed with traveling to other places that I'd had lifelong dreams of seeing, such as Great Britain. It was a really long time before I went back, last year.

And now I want to move there. I doubt I can ever afford it, but man, do I want to live there. To be warm every fucking day just seems like heaven to me, and I love the pace of life there. I wrote a story for the Idyll Challenge a few months ago called Island Time, and even though it takes place somewhere different, that phrase is kind of the embodiment of what I love about the islands and the people there -- I'm sure it can be frustrating that people live on island time there, and so appointments are fluid, people don't pay as much attention to clocks and such, but it was a new way of being for me and one that I really liked. I've always been very antsy, I get frustrated by slow drivers and people who dilly-dally, and lollygagging is a way of life there -- but it was wonderful! By the time I left I didn't want to go back to fast driving and appointments you'd get penalized for being late to and all that crap of mainland life. I just want to drive along roads lined with palm trees and smell the ocean and sit outside at night on the lanai while rain falls all around me and the whole time, I'm actually still warm.

I know that the islands have their share of problems and there are tons of issues, especially racial ones, but I was constantly amazed by how friendly everyone was, even when they were frazzled or harried. And it's probably different when you live there than when you're a paying visitor. But to be able to live your life outside almost all the time, to be at the beach every day, to have that beauty at your fingertips all the time, would be heaven on earth if you ask me. As it is, I can plan trips there, and hope I can make it back regularly. As much as I would love to travel to more places, if I only got back to Hawaii on an annual basis, I think I'd still be perfectly content.